Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report

Coral reefs are complex ecosystems which each species having an impact on the ecosystem as a whole. For an example an increase of phytoplankton can lead to an increase of Crown of Thorns starfish because their larvae prey on the plankton. Full grown Crown of Thorns starfish eat soft coral and can have a negative impact on coral populations, and the coral cover of that reef. There are anthropogenic factors that can lead to an increase in the phytoplankton population, such as nutrient runoff. This is another lesson, that humans can have an affect on the health of a coral reef, on both a local and a global scale. Local effects can include activities, such as overfishing or water pollution from runoff. Coral reefs are effected on a global scale

This information is useful to be able to draw comparisons, and to study the ecosystem as a whole. Because other species can have a great impact on one another, it is important to have this information to be able to look at other possible causes for the changes. While the outlook report it did give population trends on numerous species, there was a lack of statistics shown; whereas in the scientific article there was a large amount of data and data interpretations.One thing missing from this scientific article were the policy changes. The outlook report included policies and programs being created, and ones that are already in place to protect the reef. This information can be important in understanding changes in population and overall reef health. However these section did not go into detail on what what the specific issues and the consequences these issues are causing. The report also did not provide a lot of importation on what is causing the population changes where the scientific article provided this information. “Tropical cyclones, coral predation by crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), and coral bleaching accounted for 48%, 42%, and 10% of the respective estimated losses, amounting to 3.38% y−1 mortality rate.”

I find this to be extremely concerning because this is not a simple fix. To regulate climate change a change needs to happen on a global scale. “Regional policies cannot protect coral reefs from global-scale risks due to climate change-associated heat stress and intensifying tropical storms.” (De’ath et al. 2012) This concerns me that countries, like the United States, have leaders who are not concerned about climate change. If large countries, such as the US, aren't taking steps to decrease their amount of carbon dioxide produced, then the global temperatures will continue to rise. The decrease coral cover is very concerning. “For the whole GBR, this showed that from 1985 to 2012, mean coral cover declined nonlinearly from 28.0%... a total decline of 14.2%” (De’ath et al. 2012) This loss in habitat will affect both native species and human who rely on the reefs for food or